Coaxial cable is cable having a center conductor or wire for carrying a RF signal and an outer conductor for shielding the center conductor from outside interference. Insultaion, generally referred to as dielectric, separate the center and outer conductor. An insulating jacket surrounds the outer conductor. The outer conductor may be braided metallic wire or it may be foil wrapped around the dielectric. In the latter case, a drain wire, in direct intimate contact with the foil and parallelling the center wire, provides a convenient means for terminating the foil shielding.
A coaxial ribbon cable consists of a plurality of coaxial cable, all of which share a common outer insulating jacket. As implied by the term "ribbon", the several cables are lying in a flat plane.
The coaxial ribbon cable for which the terminator of the present invention was developed is the foil wrapped-parallel drain wire type. This type of cable is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,552.
An obvious problem one encounters in attaching a coaxial ribbon cable to a paddle card, PCB and the like, hereinafter collectively referred to as a "board", is the manipulation of the many small center wires and drain wires. The least practical but currently most prevalent method for attachment is by soldering the individual wires to terminals fixed in the board. The drawbacks to this mehtod is the expense involved in labor and the inherent problem of effecting cold solder joints. Another problem, related to expense also, is that it takes a considerable amount of time to terminate one coaxial ribbon cable. Still another problem is that the coaxial ribbon cable so terminated can be removed from the board only with difficulty and sometimes with damage to adjacent components on the board and further to the board itself.
Accordingly the object of the present invention is to provide a device which overcomes the above and other problems economically and uncomplicated.